Five Easy Answers to “What Are Customers Looking for in an eBook?”

DALLAS - July 27, 2013 - PRLog -- Dallas (July 22, 2013) If you write it, will they really come? Today’s marketing directors and VPs know they need to create regular blogs and eBooks for their marketing programs and SEO, but with increasingly shrinking resources, where do you start and how do you keep up a pace that makes a difference and helps drive traffic? And equally important, most people understand blogs, but how do eBooks fit into the marketing mix?

“Simply put, ebooks are an evolution of the old white paper, but they’re way more user-friendly and not weighed down with lots of data,” says Rachel Christianson, director of fulfillment at social media marketing company HipLogiq (http://www.hiplogiq.com/). Christianson works with HipLogiq’s customers to produce eContent and manages a team that produces more than 250 blogs and eBooks a month for clients. And, she helps patrol opportunities on Twitter to help distribute the pieces directly to interested customers.

“Blogs and eBooks are an active aggressive part of any campaign, and clearly play a strategic part in driving leads and meeting strategy goals,” says Christianson. “One of our clients is currently yielding a 28 percent conversion rate on their offer landing page solely from traffic coming in from the blog. Another is yielding a 46 percent conversion rate on their eBook downloads coming from blog traffic alone. In fact, their entire HipLogiq campaign, including Twitter conversations, blogs and eBooks, has generated 824 leads.”

"We've seen marked improvements in the SEO area since working with HipLogiq,” says another client John Yazbeck, director of sales and marketing, The New Yorker Hotel. “In New York, it is extremely difficult to gain significant traffic from keywords, seeing as it is the most competitive market in the world. Through content marketing, HipLogiq has continually helped us to improve our SEO rankings, which leads to more traffic, conversions and revenue."

“These days, when people have a question, they turn to the internet,” Christianson says. “When someone has a question, Google answers it with your eBook or blog. You aren’t directly selling your product or service, but providing help around a topic related to your industry, therefore instilling brand loyalty. It’s a great way to get consumers to take a closer look at your product or service and try it.”

Whether you’re working on a blog or eBook, remember Christianson’s easy five:

1.      Crisp, concise content. In the age of tweets and text messages, people are looking for information, and they want it quick. Make sure your blogs don’t get too lengthy. If you have more info to share, consider the way you format it. Make it easy to find information throughout if someone is just skimming your text.

2.    Lists, tips, how to’s and questions. The HipLogiq team has found that blog posts and eBooks formatted in these styles receive more views, shares and “likes” on Facebook. Think of these as the modern day self-help manual.

3.    Clear call-to-actions. Readers have read your content, now what? You must have a clear call-to-action to get them to take the next step. For example, “Liked what you read? Contact us for more info” or “Want to learn more, sign up here!”

4.    Personality. Your content should have a “voice.” And that voice should reflect the personality of your business. You don’t want there to be any disconnect.

5.    Relevant content.  Sure, you may have an opinion on the latest election, but if your business isn’t politics, you shouldn’t talk about it. Make sure your content aligns with the overall goals of your business.

To help with topics, Christianson says to put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Someone is at home trying to fix a leaky sink, and they jump online looking for a step-by-step do it yourself. A quick Google search might bring them to a tool company’s website that has a library of home repair eBooks. Or a hospital might have a web section with eBooks on different health topics.

“Hard copy manuals and brochures will probably always be around, but increasingly, a large number of customers are migrating to online resources,” says Bernard Perrine, CEO and co-founder of HipLogiq. “And if you aren’t online, you are missing those customers. Blogs and eBooks give businesses an easy way to connect with customers online. If someone hits Google, Facebook or Twitter with a question, your brand needs to be poised, ready to provide information.”

About HipLogiq

HipLogiq began in October 2012 as Social Compass, an enterprise solution for social media marketing. Co-founders Adam Root, Lindsey Madison and Bernard Perrine designed SocialCompass to help companies target and engage customers over social media in a meaningful, results-driven way. SocialCentiv – launched in March 2013 – works similarly for small to medium businesses, but with a web-based, do-it-yourself solution. During the design of SocialCentiv, leadership decided it was time to evolve the company into an idea factory that produces the most innovative, successful applications in their market space. As a result, HipLogiq also launched in March 2013. For more information, go to www.hiplogiq.com or visit them on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HipLogiq) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/HipLogiq).

For more information, contact Karen Carrera, karen@trizcom.com, 972-207-1935 or on Twitter, @kjcarrera.